


The Gallows

by Stripe



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Blood, Caliginous Romance | Kismesis, Flushed Romance | Matesprits, Hemoism, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Hanging, Implied/Referenced Torture, Multi, Pale Romance | Moirallegiance, Quadrant Vacillation, Trollstuck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-17
Updated: 2017-07-17
Packaged: 2018-12-03 05:05:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11525142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stripe/pseuds/Stripe
Summary: Most of the lights in the courtroom dimmed apart from two spotlights - one illuminating the legislacerator, and one illuminating him."Daveed Straed," said the teal blood above him, her voice booming through the room. She had a microphone on her; they'd clearly made a spectacle out of this. "You are accused of the crimes of bearing mutated blood and of obscuring your blood status. How do you plead?"Why bother giving him a choice? Dave shrugged his shoulders and cocked his head to the side. "Not guilty?"





	The Gallows

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TriadicUniverse](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TriadicUniverse/gifts).



> Here's the original prompt:
> 
> "Let me see some trollstuck please! I have an established AU that involves several of these kids on an Alternian scout ship exploring the galaxy (more details on my ao3 or at askhomestuckuniverses.tumblr.com/tagged/trollstuck), but I'd be glad to see other arrangements as well! Just give me the kids as trolls, dealing with Alternian culture and while loving and supporting each other. I don't have any triggers, so I'm okay with some dark themes, but I would like the focus to be on the brighter aspects of their relationship. Aftercare after a traumatizing experience would be great, but if you want to skip the trauma and go straight to the fluff and shenanigans, that's cool too. Maybe they're between six and ten sweeps and still hanging out on Alternia, or maybe they're grown-ass soldiers in the fleet exploring the galaxy, I'm down for it. I could only list six characters, but I'm up for pretty much any arrangement of the alpha/beta kids."
> 
> Due to an admitted personal bias and the fact that I only had about three days to write this because it was a pinch hit, I didn't get a chance to include alpha kids directly in the story, but rest assured they are here in spirit! In that I totally know where they are and what they are doing in this universe, but they do not appear within the confines of this little story.
> 
> (Also, to prevent myself from misspelling troll names, I ask you suspend your disbelief and just accept that maybe trolls commonly use four-letter nicknames for one another.)

Dave heard the crowd before he saw them, the echoing din of too many trolls in one space reverberating down the corridor he was being marched towards. It had been publicized, then, in the time since he'd been captured. A new mutant, with blood that looked just like the Sufferer's, and everybody was just aching to see how his trial played out. He hadn't technically committed any crime - he hadn't created a cult following like his red-blooded predecessor - but the crime of bearing such tainted genes would almost certainly be bad enough to lead to his execution. 

He squinted as he was lead into the courtroom, lights bearing down on him. He was unused to seeing the world without his tinted shades, leaving the emerging candy red of his irises out there for the world to see. He looked up to the crowds, the sea of horns and eyes looking down at him. There was no way he'd be able to slip out of here, even if he did manage to flash step away from the guards. Somebody would see him. Somebody would catch him. 

Dave was pushed forward to the podium, center stage. On a platform several yards ahead and above him stood the legislacerator - a fully grown troll who was probably a good two heads taller than he was. Then again, maybe that was just the perspective playing tricks on him.

Most of the lights in the courtroom dimmed apart from two spotlights - one illuminating the legislacerator, and one illuminating him.

"Daveed Straed," said the teal blood above him, her voice booming through the room. She had a microphone on her; they'd clearly made a spectacle out of this. "You are accused of the crimes of bearing mutated blood and of obscuring your blood status. How do you plead?"

Why bother giving him a choice? Dave shrugged his shoulders and cocked his head to the side. "Not guilty?" He saw no reason to tell the truth. He was going to die no matter what he did. He might as well give them a show before he got eviscerated. 

It got a chuckle out of the legislacerator, at least, but it didn't spare him. She gave one of the guards a gesture, and the next thing Dave knew, a blade was being pressed to his cheek, drawing blood. There was an audible gasp and mixed murmurs of excitement and disgust among the crowd as his damning blood dripped down his face. Dave couldn't see it himself, not at this angle, but he knew what it looked like well enough to know that the legislacerator already had all the evidence she needed to condemn him.

His cheek stung from the cut of the blade, and he closed his eyes for just a moment, imagining a happier time.

\----------

_"Hey, shoooosh. Chill out, Dave. You're gonna be fine."_

_Dave batted away the clawed hand gently papping away at his cheek and looked up at his huge, lumbering moirail. Jhonen Egbret - though Dave preferred the monosyllabic name "John" - was a blue blood who could have thrown a scuttlebuggy over his head without breaking a sweat, but somehow he managed to be gentler than anything when he papped. They really were a classic moiralleigance in many ways - huge, violent blueblood with a tiny "maroon" palemate. Still, they didn't always fit the stereotype._

_"Shit, aren't I supposed to be the one chilling you out?" Dave asked, crossing his arms as John settled them in his pile of fake arms. Strange material for a pale pile, maybe, but neither of them were exactly swimming in soft objects, so the slightly uncomfortable plastic would have to do. "Like where are all these violent blueblood urges I'm supposed to be keeping in check here? Why are you the one papping me?"_

_"I'm the one papping you because you're freaking out about stuff," John said, papping Dave's face again. This time Dave didn't bat his hand away. "Besides, you totally take care of all my violent blueblood urges! I mean, remember that time I got all mad about that old Troll Nicolas Cage Movie?"_

_"Yeah, you threw a temper tantrum so bad you nearly passed out." Dave rolled his eyes and leaned up against his moirails chest. "I don't think that counts as violent blueblood urges, John."_

_"No, it totally does! You never know, Dave. I could have caused a lot of destruction if you hadn't been there, all in the name of Troll Nicolas Cage."_

_Dave snorted. "Uh huh. Sure."_

_"Shoosh." John papped his face again. "So tell me what's up. You've been rambling even more and making even more tentabulge jokes than usual recently and that is a sure sign that you are actually really stressed about something."_

_"Well-"_

_"And don't try and ramble at me! Get straight to the truth."_

_Dave sighed. "It's just... you know. Being- maroon and facing the prospect of having to go off-planet soon. You're a blue blood, so you'll probably get some kind of cushy job and have hot trolls falling for you left and right. I'll probably be like, what. A janitor? Something disposable. Like, what's to stop a highblood from just dropping by and kicking the shit out of me 'cause their matesprit broke up with them?"_

_All of that was true, but he couldn't tell John about the deadly consequences of anybody catching him bleeding. John was a highblood in his own right. For all Dave knew, he'd clock him, and then send him to the empire for processing and an eventual execution. And that was assuming that John didn't just kill him on sight._

_John was quiet for a moment, just absently papping Dave's cheek. "I think you're going to be okay," he said finally. "I mean- I don't know my placement yet, but... I might be able to file for you to transfer, since you're my quadrantmate? Then we can bunk together. And nobody will touch you because they'll be scared of making me mad."_

_It was an appealing thought, admittedly, but... "John, I know you're a highblood, but those kinds of transfers take sweeps to go through sometimes." There was no way he was getting away without so much as a cut around other trolls in the time it would take to get John's protection._

_"Okay, maybe not me, then. But what about your kismesis? She's a seadweller, right?"_

_Dave was quiet for a moment. He knew where this was going. "...Right."_

_"She's going to have elite placement. I bet she could get you placed with her immediately. And you two have a pretty strong kismessitude going! Like, I haven't felt like I needed to go ashen for you guys at all. Plus, I've met her. She's super scary when she wants to be!"_

_That got a smile out of Dave at least. "Yeah, she definitely is. But, I dunno, do you think it's too fast to ask her to request me? We've been seeing each other a while, but..."_

_"I don't think it is at all! She's special to you, and it's also just practical. And maybe if I put some requests in, I could get transferred to her ship. And if I also get Jade with me..."_

_Dave grinned. "Then the gang's all here. Shit, that would be nice."_

_"Yeah, see? All you need to do is abuse those seadweller privileges, and then you're golden."_

_"My blood's maroon, John."_

_"Oh, shut up."_

_John shuffled their positions a little, which mostly involved turning Dave around to face him so that they could look at each other a little better. It was comforting, seeing that familiar lop-sided grin with its uneven teeth, and it made his blood pusher turn over in a way that wasn't entirely pale._

_Something strange crossed John's face as he looked at Dave, and Dave's thoughts were torn from vague red musings into a welling panic. After all, his eyes were uncovered, and they were getting brighter by the day. John's were already a deep blue - maybe it was already obvious. Maybe John had realized; maybe John was about to turn him in._

_John shook his head, looking away. "Ugh, anyways. Just... it might be a while before we see each other again in person, you know? We'll have to get used to jamming over trollian again. So- don't go pale on anybody else on me, okay?"_

_Now it was Dave's turn to pap. "Hey. Don't worry about it. Nothing's gonna split us apart."_

__

\----------

When Dave opened his eyes, he was still standing in the courtroom, flanked on either side by two imposing guards, his cheek dripping blood.

"I think the court will find this evidence sufficient, though I am happy to draw more blood as needed," said the legislacerator. "We can also now add 'lying to the court' to your list of crimes, mutant. Do you have anything to say in your defense?" 

Dave shrugged. "Not really. What do you expect me to say?"

The legislacerator tapped her nails across her podium. "There is always the opportunity to cut you a deal," she offered.

He cocked an eyebrow. "What kind of deal? You aren't just going to let me go."

"No," she agreed, "but we can make your death faster. A swift beheading rather than a hanging, for example. I just need the names of some accomplices." 

Dave raised his eyebrows. "Accomplices?"

"Yes. The court finds it very unlikely that a small mutant such as yourself could live for so long without some sort of outside help. Were you contacted by any sort of organization, espousing heretical ideals? Perhaps somebody from the brooding caverns helped. Or did you have help from quadrantmates, blinded by their affection for you that they made the foolish mistake of protecting you rather than turning you in?"

\----------

_"Thanks for helping me with my lusus, Dave! I know that this isn't really the funnest thing to do, but I really appreciate it."_

_"Hey, it's no biggie. Like, what are matesprits for if not helping beloved lusii return to the Alternian wilds, right?"_

_Jaydhe Harlee - Jade for short - simply laughed, and it was like the entire world got brighter in response. Her long, thick hair was tied back into a braid as the two of them stood outside her hive at sunset, trying to herd her giant barkbeast of a lusus back into the woods. Right now, said lusus was obstinate, sitting in the grass and refusing to run back into the wilds. Jade stood in front of him with her arms crossed._

_"You already got your lusus to leave, right Dave?" she asked. "How did you do it?"_

_"Yeah, soon as I got my ship assignment," Dave said. "And I dunno, I just sort've... shooed him away. Like, fuck off crow-dad, go make your nest somewhere else. And he did." He shrugged. His lusus had never been the type to get attached._

_"Well, I've already tried that. Like fifty times. And I have tried playing fetch with him and throwing the stick really far away." Jade groaned. "Ugh, this is so hard! But I'm leaving the planet! He needs to run off and find a new little green-blood to raise."_

_Her barkbeast lusus cocked his head to the side. To some trolls, it might have looked cute, but Dave knew better. He knew that Jade's lusus didn't approve of him, and never had. He'd suspected his blood had something to do with it, but it wasn't something he could ever mention to Jade. Instead, she just had to marvel at how her lusus approved of her kismesis more than her matesprit._

_Still, maybe it could be useful here._

_"Well, I've got an idea," Dave said. "I mean, we gotta make sure that he doesn't want to come back around here and follow you around, right? And we know that he hates me, so..."_

_"He doesn't hate you!" Jade said. "He just.... growls every time you get anywhere near him?"_

_Dave gave her a blank look._

_"Okay. I guess it's worth a shot."_

_Dave nodded and carefully approached Jade's giant hellbeast of a lusus, trying to calm his frantic bloodpusher. "Hey, boy," he said, trying to be brave and look casual. "So I was thinking. You know, things with me and Jade have been goin' pretty well. Might be time to start filling buckets together, which means I'm gonna have to spend a lot of time here. I mean, you never know when the drones are gonna come a-knocking."_

_Jade's lusus was growling at him, now standing with his hackles raised. Dave wished John was here. John was scary and imposing. At least he would have had backup._

_Still, Dave persisted, walking ever closer. "So I'm thinking I should just stay here. All the time. And put all my best moves on Jade's and get my awesome scent all over your favorite places, so maybe you should just- Fuck!" The next thing Dave knew, Jade's lusus had dug its teeth into his shoulder, pain shooting through his body and making his knees buckle. Thankfully, the hellbeast didn't seem intent on sticking around and let Dave go in record time, leaving him slumped on the ground. At the very least, the barkbeast did take off into the woods. Dave didn't know if he'd be back, but at least his tactic hadn't been totally useless._

_"Oh- Dave, I'm so sorry!" Jade rushed over to his side. Dave instinctively clutched at his shoulder, hoping he wouldn't bleed enough for it to show. Still, he already knew how this was going to go. There was no way that Jade would simply let him tend to his wounds on his own. Sure, Dave was used to it, but Jade cared for him far too much to just let him go. She'd insist on bandaging him, which meant..._

_Shit._

_"Dave," Jade said softly. "Let me see your arm. I need to see how bad the damage is."_

_Well, he needed to at least attempt to have this not end in a disaster. It would be sweeps until he saw Jade in person after this; if he could just get away, then his blood identity would be safe from her for a very long time. "It's, uh, not that bad, barely hurts actually, I think I'm just gonna sort of wander on home, nothing to see here- oooh, fuck." Dave had tried to stand, but moving his shoulder even a little felt terrible._

_Jade sighed, her brow knitting together. He knew he was about to hear her no-nonsense voice before she even spoke. "Dave. Show me your shoulder. I'm not letting you go home until it's patched up."_

_Dave took in a deep breath and closed his eyes tight. He didn't want to see her face as she looked upon his blood in revulsion. He didn't want to see that caring, loving expression of hers shift into one of disgust. Maybe if he was lucky, she'd just kill him before turning him over to the Alternian authorities. Maybe their matespritship would buy him that much._

_Carefully, Dave removed his hand from his shoulder. He could already feel that it was slick with blood. Jade gasped._

_"Oh- oh, Dave, I..." Dave steeled himself, preparing for an apology before she clawed his throat out. Jade was nice like that. "I'm sorry I didn't realize this sooner! I thought I'd noticed your eyes looking a little brighter than I expected- oh, I could have gotten you a set of contacts by now if I'd known!"_

_Dave dared to open his eyes and look up at her. "Wait- what?"_

_"Contacts!" Jade said. "You know, for your eyes? Yours are getting brighter by the day, Dave. I know you wear shades, but that's not always going to be good enough! I have some friends who do cosplay, though. I know they've got some really good options for maroon blood contacts, and they're super cheap, too! I mean, most of the really cool characters aren't maroon, so not a lot of trolls buy them... Dave, are you okay?"_

_Dave realized that he was staring at her open-mouthed like a dumb wiggler. "I just- you're not gonna murder me?"_

_The look that Jade gave him was the most pitying thing he had ever seen in his life. She reached out to cup his cheek, and Dave was suddenly, abruptly reminded of John. "Dave," she said softly. "You're my matesprit. I'm not going to kill you! I'm going to keep you safe. Stay at my hive for the next couple of nights while you recover, and I'll put in a rush order for as many pairs of maroon contacts as I can get my hands on. Nobody's going to hurt you. I promise."_

_The next thing Dave knew, her hand on his cheek turned into a full-blown cheek pap. Jade's eyes widened, realizing what she had done, and she immediately went in for a kiss, as though that would hide the fact she had inadvertently pulled him into pale infidelity._

_"Jade-"_

_"I'm sorry," she said quickly. "It won't happen again. Come on, just get inside. We need to get you patched up before anybody sees."_

__

\----------

Dave shook his head. "Nope. No accomplices. Guess I must have just gotten lucky."

The legislacerator tapped her fingers against the podium, considering his statement. Dave knew that she was trying to unnerve him into confessing, but he also knew that his poker face was better than anything. He wouldn't risk any of their lives just because he'd gotten caught. He couldn't do much right now, captured and doomed to die, but he could at least do this one thing.

"I have heard that death by hanging is excruciating," said the legislacerator. "Your neck burns and your breathing sacks ache as you're unable to take in more air. You just writhe in mid-air for everybody in this courtroom to see, and then you die. And you know we'll run checks on your quadrantmates, anyways. We have their names. Jhonen Egbret, Jaydhe Harlee, Ros-"

"They didn't help," Dave snapped. "They didn't know. And the one who did find out is the one who landed me here, so I'd say she's done her legal duty to the empire."

The legislacerator grinned, showing off a row of serrated teeth. "So she has."

\----------

_Dave often couldn't believe his luck in his black quadrant. It still boggled the thinkpan to comprehend that the essays she had written taking apart his ironic comics sweeps ago had lead to this - pulling strings to get him a prestigious placement as part of one of the most elite fleets of the Condesce's empire. Roesae Laloun - though she preferred the nickname "Rose" - was beautiful, deadly, and funny, and Dave swooned every time he saw her._

_That was especially true now that they shared a block together. Not just any block, either - Rose was already an officer due to her penultimately perfect blood color, which meant that she'd gotten a block to match. Multiple rooms and a recuprecoon big enough for a whole squadron of trolls. Dave really was living the high life._

_Rose had told him to sit in their living block while she changed into something more "comfortable" - and what she had just emerged in looked to be anything but comfortable. It was a thin, almost sheer piece of lace that left absolutely nothing to the imagination. Dave's eyebrows shot right up, and she grinned, flashing those sharp, deadly teeth that reminded him of a shark._

_"I thought we should celebrate our new cohabitation," Rose said simply. "After all, the ship is currently stuck in the inky blackness of space as we rush out to our first post. There's nothing to do other than get... acquainted with our new positions."_

_Dave brushed a hand through his hair, laughing in disbelief. His shades were off, but his maroon contacts were still firmly in place - Jade's way of keeping him safe from far away. "Holy shit- how long have you been planning this? Like, I'm pretty sure there isn't a shop for slinky blackrom numbers on the ship, so you had to have gotten it in advance. It's not like you just picked it up on a whim."_

_Rose slid into his lap, tangling a hand into his hair and not letting go. "Ever since you asked me to get us a block together on the same ship. Please, Dave. I come prepared. And yet, here you are, dressed in the same, drab clothing as ever. Where is your sense of romance, Daveed? Shouldn't you be even more dedicated to keeping me thoroughly wooed now that we are to see one another daily?"_

_It was an unspoken challenge. Dave wondered how well interstellar delivery systems worked. He'd need to find something even slinkier to top this. He'd look into it later. "Trust me, I am, I am," he assured her, grinning up at her. "Just, you know, didn't think you'd be into something so overt. Where's the subtlety, Roesae? Is it really romantic if you don't have to write a six page essay picking apart every layer of irony?"_

_Rose pressed her lips to his neck and hummed. "Are you teasing a new Sweete Brosef and Hellya Jeoffe comic? Just for me?"_

_"I might be." He didn't actually have one in the works, but hell, if Rose was going to dress up in slinky numbers from now on, then he could pull out the old tablet and throw some jpeg artifacts together again._

_"Mmm. I await the release date eagerly. Perhaps you could give me a sneak peek? I would love to start my analysis ahead of the curve."_

_"I dunno," Dave said, trailing his fingers up her spine. "That's a pretty big advantage over all my other readers. You'd have to do something pretty big to earn it."_

_"I think I can more than earn it."_

_Dave groaned as he felt Rose's teeth mark up his neck. Some part of him knew that he should really try putting up more of a fight if he wanted to prove himself as a worthy kismesis to her, but he couldn't help but enjoy it. Besides, Rose was clearly getting into it, and she was never more attractive than when she was passionate._

_Unfortunately, she was getting too passionate, and he realized it just a moment too late. "Hey, Rose, not so hard with the- fuck!" She'd bit down_ hard _, and he could practically feel her teeth slicing through his skin. This was bad._

_Rose pulled away, looking smug, and Dave stared up at her. He had the foresight to quickly cover his neck with his hand, but there was clearly a bit of his candy red blood staining her lips. She hadn't noticed it yet, based on her smug expression. He wondered what the chances were it would stay that way._

_"What's wrong, Straed?" she asked in that teasing tone that would have been so, so hot under any other circumstance. "Can't bear the thought of losing just a bit of your blood?" She reached a finger up to brush some of it from her chin. Dave prayed it would be thin enough that she wouldn't notice the color._

_It wasn't._

_When Rose pulled her fingers away, her eyes widened just a fraction. She looked back at him with a sense of urgency. "Dave." Her tone had lost all of its playful, flirtatious teasing. She was using her professional voice - the same tone she used when addressing co-workers. "Remove your hand from your neck."_

_Dave could still feel blood lazily pooling under his fingertips. His blood pusher began to hammer. "Rose, please-"_

_She bared her teeth at him in a way that spoke of an impending attack. "Remove it!"_

_Shakily, Dave pulled his hand away, taking only a moment to glance at his own palm. The bleeding wasn't too heavy. If he were actually maroon, they could have continued without worry of significantly hurting him. But it was enough to prove that the blood flowing through his veins was unnaturally bright._

_There was none of Jade's softness in Rose's expression. None of her pity, none of her worry. Instead, Rose looked like a cornered animal. She stood up and backed away, her eyes trained not on his face, but on the bite mark she had given him._

_"You're- I have to report you," she said softly, voice shaking a little. "You're a mutant on one of the most prestigious ships of the empire, in the block of a seadweller. This is- I'm sorry, Dave. I have to report you."_

__

\----------

Dave felt a lump form in his throat, but he forced himself to look up at the legislacerator all the same. "Can we move on?" he asked. "You got it. You caught me. There's no reason to draw this out any more. Just sentence me and then let me asphyxiate in front of a crowd since I guess that's what gets your jollies off."

"Sexually propositioning a member of the court," the legislacerator said, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "It seems you simply commit crimes by your very existence, don't you?"

"Fuck you."

"Hostility towards a member of the court as well." There was that sharp, serrated grin again. "Perhaps the asphyxiation is too good for you. There is something of a precedent for handling mutant bloods, as you might know. Red hot irons and flogging, so that your death takes as long as possible, so that everybody can see your disgusting mutant blood out on display." 

Dave shut his mouth and looked down at his feet. He had no doubt that she would happily string him up in scalding irons like they did centuries ago with the Signless. He knew he was destined to die anyways, but he also didn't see a reason to make it more of a pain on himself.

"Anything more to say, convict?"

He shook his head.

"Very well. Daveed Straede, you are hereby sentenced to death by hanging for your crimes of bearing mutated blood, obscuring your blood status, lying in court, and inappropriate conduct toward the legislacerator trying your case. Are there any objections to this hearing?"

The crowd was silent, but Dave knew better than to hope for a savior at this point. Even if Jade had found out, there was no way she could storm the court single-handedly. He still didn't know if John would even care to protect him once his true blood status was out there. Those two were the only two he could hope to count on at this point - and they weren't coming. Nobody was going to save him.

"Yes, actually. I do have an objection."

Dave's head jerked up, and he heard the clicking of heels as another trolls strolled past his podium to stand before his prosecutor. Violet fins flared.

"As a seadweller, I believe that my voice automatically gets heard in a court of law, correct?"

The legislacerator pouted. "It does. You can't hope to overrule something as big as his crimes, though. We're talking blood status - that's only something Her Imperious Condescension could hope to undo. Who do you think you are?"

"My name is Roesae Laloun," she said, and with a sharp turn of her heels, Dave was suddenly face-to-face with his kismesis. Ex-kismesis? Her expression was unreadable, but she was looking at him intently. It had been nearly a perigree since she had turned him in and her eyes had entirely filled in as violet by now. "I am not here to overrule your decision, Madam Legislacerator."

"Then what are you here to do? Are you here to argue over his method of execution?"

Rose turned back to face the legislacerator, but Dave was sure that, just for a moment, he could see her smiling. "No. That is also not my purpose for being here, Madam Legislacerator."

The prosecutor was getting irritated now. "Then what _are_ you here for?"

"I am here to fuck shit up."

Rose withdrew something from her pocket, and in the next moment, the courtroom was shaken with an explosion. Something had taken a huge chunk out of the prosecutor's podium, causing the woman on top of it to jump off. The guards that had been watching over Dave moved forward to apprehend Rose, and Dave stood up straight, ready to at least try and stop them. He didn't know why Rose had changed her mind or what her plan was, but he had never been happier to see her. 

Before Dave could step forward, however, he felt something grabbing his arm, holding him back, followed by a kiss on his unharmed cheek. "Rose will be fine," came a hushed voice, and when Dave turned, he was face-to-face with a set of vibrant green eyes. Dave's heart soared - she'd brought Jade, too. Somehow. "She has an escape plan. But we need to get you out of here first!"

Dave nodded dumbly. He glanced over his shoulder to see if anybody was watching them leave, but Rose was causing so much mayhem that nobody was really paying him any mind. A mutant blood was exciting, but a seadweller gone rogue was practically unheard of. Even in the realm of being a felon, Rose had somehow found a way to upstage him.

Jade pulled him along with her, and the two of them ran back down the hall that Dave had come from. Alarms were blaring, but somehow, they never ran across any security. Before long, they were at the ship dock, where a small cruiser was waiting. Jade pushed him inside, and the next thing that Dave knew, he was wrapped up in a pair of big, strong arms.

He could hardly believe it. "John?"

"Yep. In the flesh." 

Dave felt a quick pap on his uninjured cheek before he was pulled further inside. When Jade was in too, the door shut behind them. John let him go to head to the controls; evidently, he'd taken the role of pilot for this little escape mission. The ship's engine roared to life

"So- you knew about my blood?" Dave asked John, leaning against the side of the ship. "I guess- who, Jade told you?"

John rolled his eyes. "No way! I figured it out before you even got off-planet. Your eyes were a big giveaway, you dummy. Not to mention you got really cagey any time you talked about being maroon-blooded. I just wish I'd thought of Jade's contact idea! That was really smart."

Dave frowned. So much for a well-kept secret. Still, John was beginning to fiddle with controls, and the engine was getting louder. "Wait- what about Rose? You're not just leaving her, right?"

Jade rolled her eyes and pulled Dave to sit with her in one of the seats. "I told you, she has an escape plan! She's going to be fine."

"Okay, I'm just saying that if she winds up dying in there saving my ass, then she's like eternally one-upped me, I will fucking never be able to top that no matter how good of a eulogy I give her, so-"

"Shoosh!" Jade papped his face, and then promptly leaned in to kiss him. Before Dave could think to question just what quadrant the two of them were supposed to be in, the ship lurched forward, and they were off into the inky blackness of space.

When the acceleration had died down, Dave's head was spinning a little. He squinted a little - then the next thing he knew, Rose was walking in through the window, looking scuffed, but very much alive and well. He shook his head.

"What? What the fuck? Did you just walk in from outer space? Like am I hallucinating? Am I actually hanging on a noose right now, and this is just my brain trying to cheer me up before I go? Like, what's going on?"

Jade laughed, squeezing his shoulder. "No, you are alive, and no, that is not exactly what happened! It's some new technology that the resistance effort's developed. One-use teleportation. It's really cool!"

"Resistance?"

Before Jade could answer him, Rose slumped down next to Dave, and he took the opportunity to look at her more closely. She was bleeding, her violet blood dripping from a cut on both her shoulder and her cheek. He nudged her gently and pointed to his own cheek.

"Hey, look. We match."

Rose laughed, but it was a tired sound. "Yes, though only one of our blood colors is grounds for execution." Her expression sobered. "On that note... I believe I owe you an apology."

"You mean for turning me in and nearly getting me executed?" Dave asked.

Rose cleared her throat, unable to meet his eyes. "Yes, for that."

"Yeah, an apology would be nice."

Rose leaned forward, staring at her hands, notably stained with blood colors that were not her own. "I suppose I... panicked somewhat," she said. "I know that it's hardly an excuse, but as a young seadweller being handed a prestigious position, I felt as though I had a lot to prove. I needed to show that I deserved my spot in command. So when I found that there was a traitor literally in my block..." She made a vague hand gesture. Dave didn't exactly feel the need to press her for more details.

"But you decided to break me out?" he asked. "That doesn't seem like the sorta thing commanding officers are supposed to do."

A wry smile crossed her face. "At some point, I realized that I valued future installments of Sweete Brosef and Hellya Jeoffe more than I did a fancy block all to myself."

"She reached out to us the very next day!" Jade said, leaning over to pat Rose on the top of the head. It was a very pale gesture, Dave noted, and Rose didn't seem too intent on rebuffing it. As though things needed to be any more confusing.

"Well, apology accepted," Dave said. "But only 'cause you looked pretty kickass standing up to the legislacerator like that. Also, your next critical review of my first post-prison break comic had better be pretty damn complimentary." 

Rose snorted. "I think I can probably manage that."

John returned from the control panel and easily picked up Dave so that he could sit between the girls with his moirail in his lap. Dave figured he probably should have pitched a fit, just to show he wasn't tiny and pitiful in front of his kismesis, but at this point, Dave found that he didn't care.

"Ugh," he grunted. "Can't believe all three of you are here right now. Like, I gotta be the luckiest troll in the world right now. Having all my filled quadrants here at once."

John cocked an eyebrow. "Luckiest troll in the world? You almost got hanged for your blood color."

"Yeah, but I didn't." He looked between the three of them, noting the way that John's hand had slipped into Rose's. "So- did I miss something in the perigree I've been imprisoned? 'Cause to me it looks like I've missed something. I mean, last I checked Jade and John were hate-dating, but I haven't heard a single teasing remark since I got here."

Suddenly none of his quadrant mates could quite look at him or each other. Rose finally cleared her throat. "Let's just say it may take a four-way feelings jam to... entirely sort this one out."

Dave shook his head. he was still too hyped up on adrenaline and the simple fact that he wasn't dead to be ready to wade through the murky waters of quadrant vacillation. "So where are we headed?" he asked. "I mean, we're not just heading out into the inky blackness of space forever, right?"

"The resistance," John said. "They've got a covert base. You'll be safe there - plus, Roxsee mentioned she wanted to meet somebody with mutant blood like you."

"Who the fuck is Roxsee?"

Jade just grinned at him. "You'll find out soon!"

**Author's Note:**

> After this, they meet the alpha kids who are part of the resistance. Jane is a blueblooded double agent that works closely with the Condesce, Dirk is a mustardblood who is good with tech, Jake is a jadeblood who often goes back to Alternia to help find new recruits and bring back strong lusii, and Roxy is a fuschia blooded heiress that is going to try and contest the Condesce for the throne. 
> 
> Quadrants only get more confusing from there.
> 
> I'm really sorry that I didn't have the time to delve into all of the messy quadrant stuff that was hinted at, but I hope you enjoy what's here! Maybe one day I'll have time to return to this particular trollstuck universe and mess with it a bit more.


End file.
